MAN UNITED vs LIVERPOOL
Sunday 17th March, 3:30pm
Man United @ 15/8
Liverpool @ 13/10
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For a while now the FA Cup has struggled for relevancy. Still an important competition, sure, but nowhere near as great as it used to be.
Underpinned by increasingly dusty nostalgia, and dwarfed by the dual neon sky-scrapers of the Premier League and Champions League, the oldest national cup competition in the world at times struggles to egress its Victorian wickerwork Bath-chair to stand upright.
One would think this gulf would feel wider still in a season where the Premier League is revving its engines louder than ever; building towards an extraordinary climax of taut, interlocking plots – like a Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato ostentatiously pulling-up alongside the abovementioned wobbling Bath-chair.
But, against all odds, the FA Cup has holstered its brass ear-trumpet, stood fully erect, and has come out swinging – putting together an intriguing quarter-final match card over-flowing with big teams, potentially season-defining games, and the renewal of old rivalries.
One of the problems the Cup faces is that, to a large extent, the playing fields have been levelled – literally. Across the country, the pitches are better. There are no surfaces that can only be negotiated by welly-clad locals who understand the nuances of the shifting mud below their feet; places where the ball pauses in puddles; plops to a stop in penalty area cow-pats.
And, as a consequence, the fabled ‘Cupsets’ are now also becoming a part of the competition’s extensive sepia-hued past.
The elite clubs can deploy their refined, Arabesque attacks in remote corners of England without getting a single fleck of mud on their garish polyester leotards. The upside of this development, however, is that a few of these XL outfits come face-to-face this very weekend.
The knock-out action begins with Wolverhampton Wanderers v Coventry City at 12:15pm on Saturday. This is the first meeting between the West Midlands sides in almost 10 years, and is exactly the kind of clash the Champions League could never offer – under-pinned, as it is, by an animosity based on geography, rather than who trumped who in the transfer market.
Chelsea v Leicester City begins proceedings on Sunday at 12:45pm, in what will likely be a Premier League fixture once again next season. Boosted by a decent win in midweek, Chelsea will be hoping to prove that they are rather more than the 11th best side in the top division.
The magnitude of these Cup clashes gets ramped-up as we move later in the respective days. First up, Manchester City v Newcastle United is a 5:30pm kick-off on Saturday.
It is hard to believe that both these teams finished in the top four last season, given that 23 points currently separates the pair in the league. Obviously, injuries have been a factor in Newcastle’s decline over the course of this campaign, but at what point does the finger of blame begin to be pointed at the manager?
A similar question hovers over Sunday’s bigger, later game; where Manchester United host Liverpool in a 3:30pm start.
Here the situation is even more befuddling; because, lest we forget, United finished 8 points above Liverpool in the table in 2023. And they are now 17 behind. Again, injuries have buckled the starting XI – the whole United back four has been unavailable at times – but, as with Eddie Howe, there are many who are nevertheless questioning the quality of Erik ten Hag’s decision-making.
Specifically, how did he think Antony – a player he previously managed at Ajax – was an essential, £90 million purchase? And, in a week where Jadon Sancho helped Borussia Dortmund reach the Champions League quarter-finals, did the Dutchman handle that particular situation correctly too?
Will unexpected wins give the Uniteds a boost? Will this weekend give the FA Cup, as a whole, a boost? Perhaps, like the Champions League, the competition just needs its own pompous, operatic theme music?
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